Various associations representing the Trans and LGBTIQA+ communities, including Libertrans, Walking Intersex, and Apertura, have declared a definitive break in relations with the City of Arona, situated in the south of Tenerife. This decision follows the recent announcement of an agreement allowing Vox to participate for the first time in a municipal government in Tenerife, a move they have characterised as a “Pact of shame,” facilitated by the Canarian Coalition and the Popular Party.
The organisations have expressed their discontent with the “falsehoods” propagated by the mayor of Arona, Fatima Lemes (PP), who claimed that Vox would not exert any ideological influence. However, it has been revealed that they will oversee strategic sectors such as culture, tourism, and employment, wherein they may impose “sexist, racist, and LGBTIphobic policies that are characteristic of the far-right and that we have unfortunately observed in other regions of the country.”
The groups particularly emphasise the “serious contradictions” posed by the Canarian Coalition, a party that, in their view, “has conveniently forgotten the significant red lines they established to never collaborate with the far-right, thereby turning this Pact of shame into direct enablers of ultra-right policies that jeopardise the most vulnerable sectors of society.”
Specifically, they deemed as “embarrassing” the claim of ensuring political stability in Arona, asserting that “they do not even achieve an absolute majority with Vox’s inclusion, rendering the government not only unstable but also ultra-right in nature.” They insist it is essential for “at least one president, who also holds the responsibilities for equality and diversity, to meet the standards implied by the role.”
Associations in Tenerife declared that they will not maintain any institutional relationship with a municipality governed by the far-right, which denies the reality of gender-based violence, asserts that trans women are men, and contends that same-sex marriages and adoptions are unacceptable, labelling the community as secondary citizens.
The groups point out that this agreement signifies “a historical betrayal of women, LGBTIQA+ individuals, and migrants, a reality we will not overlook as activists.” They also cautioned that “we will act consistently, as the political class has not, to extend the severance of ties with any public institution that accommodates the far-right within its governing ranks or allows this party to depend on political majorities.”
In conclusion, activists are urging the public to collectively repudiate this “pact of shame,” while also appealing to the responsibilities of other municipal factions (PSOE, Más por Arona, and Nueva Canarias) to “not remain passive in the face of this democratic violation,” inviting them to refrain from complicity in the harm that extreme right policies typically inflict.”
